Here it is: beautiful Bristol County, Massachusetts
Acushnet
Pronunciation: Ah-kush-net
Population in 2020: 8,166
Incorporated: 1860
Original name: Cushnea, meaning “peaceful resting place near water.”
Acushnet is one of those towns I thought was on the Cape until I did the Barnstable County post. It sounds beachy.
Anyway, good job Acushnet for keeping a reasonable facsimile of the original Wampanoag name.
Attleboro
Pronunciation: Attle-burrow, Addle-burrah
Population in 2020: 46,461
Incorporated: 1694
Original name: unknown
The land once known as Attleborough was purchased by English settlers from Wampanoag sachem Wamsutta.
Attleboro most certainly is named after the town of the same name in England. (Which also has a zoo!) The name probably derived from Anglo-Saxon and there are a few theories floating about. This one names Atlinge, the King of Norfolk as the likely inspiration.
Reincorporated as a city in 1914, the municipality dropped the “ugh” from the name. In 1941 they adopted a seal described herein.
Berkley
Pronunciation: Burk-lee
Population in 2020: 6,764
Incorporated: 1735
Original name: Shawomat
Berkley was initially spelled Berkeley, as it was named for George Berkeley, an Irish bishop who would have pronounced his name Barkley. Berkeley was a renowned philosopher and developed the theory of subjective reality, which posits that the only things in the Universe are minds and those minds’ ideas. He only lived in the colonies for a few years but made enough of an impression on Newport, RI and nearby communities that not only this town but many other places, such as Berkeley, CA were named for him.
It is disappointing to note that Berkeley bought enslaved Africans to serve him in the mansion he built in Middletown, RI. (A fact this laudatory profile fails to mention.)
The name of Berkley, MA is misspelled. This is blamed on the clerk who wrote up the incorporation papers. (This reminds me of the missing N in Lenox.)
Dartmouth
Pronunciation: Dart-muth, Daht-muth
Population in 2020: 33,783
Incorporated: 1664
Original name: Acushena, Ponagansett, Coaksett
Dartmouth is named for the town in Devon, England, but why? It’s probably because of English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold (who helped settle the area). His ship, the Concord, had its home port there. I say probably because apparently the Mayflower stopped for repairs there before crossing the ocean. I could believe either theory.
Dighton
Pronunciation: Dite-un
Population in 2020: 8,101
Incorporated: 1712
Original name: Cohannet, Tetiquet, or Titiquet
Dighton was once part of Taunton, but separated in 1672. The town is named for Frances Dighton Williams, who, with her husband Richard Williams, was one of the first white settlers. You can see their marriage certificate here as well as a commemorative coin.
Easton
Pronunciation: East-un
Population in 2020: 25,058
Incorporated: 1725
Original name: ?
Easton was once at the east end of Taunton, so when it went off on its own they decided to shorten “east end” to Easton. Short and sweet.
Fairhaven
Pronunciation: Like it looks
Population in 2020: 15,924
Incorporated: 1812
Original name: Sconticut, Cushnea
Fairhaven was once part of Fall River which was once part of Dartmouth. It was originally known as Fair Haven, as it sits on the Acushnet river and provides a, well, fair haven for ships.
Fairhaven has its share of historical tales to tell, but I like this one the best: The First Japanese Man in America: The Epic Tale of Nakahama Manjiro.
Fall River
Pronunciation: Like it looks
Population in 2020: 94,000
Incorporated: 1812
Original name: Quequechan
Quequechan means “falling river,” so there you go.
One note about Fall River is that is has a motto: We’ll Try.
Freetown
Pronunciation: Like it looks
Population in 2020: 9,206
Incorporated: 1683
Original name: Assonet
This town was not established by free slaves, which was my first guess. The white settlers must have felt free from the yokes of their English oppressors. Or something. Seems to be lost to history. (I keep saying I’m going to call all the historical societies to get answers, but life happens.)
Mansfield
Pronunciation: Mans-feeld
Population in 2020: 23,860
Incorporated: 1775
Original name: ?
Mansfield is named for this guy:
When the Norton North Precint petioned the govener to become a district…
The petition did not include a district name, so it appears Governor Hutchinson bestowed the name “Mansfield” in honor of William Murray, the First Earl of Mansfield, England, who was Chief Justice of the King’s Bench.
Why Hutchinson did this is unknown. Maybe he just though the Earl was cool. He was certainly busy, what with ending the slave trade in England and all. He and his wife had no children, but helped to raise Dido Belle, the illegitimate daughter of a Royal Naval officer and a formerly enslaved woman.
New Bedford
Pronunciation: this one’s easy peasy
Population in 2020: 101,079
Incorporated: 1787 (town) 1847 (city)
Original name: Achushnet
New Bedford was part of the big parcel of land that started as Dartmouth, and split away in 1787. Bedford Village became New Bedford, because Bedford was already taken as a town name.
Bedford Village was named by Joseph Rotch, a Quaker who helped develop the area into the whaling port we know today. Or so says the National Park Service. Other sources say it was named after Joseph Russell, Duke of Bedford, who, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to have existed.
I love how people can just make up British nobles to support their little theories. Love it.
North Attleborough
Pronunciation: North + Attle-burrow or Addle-burrah
Population in 2020: 30,834
Incorporated: 1887
Original name: unknown
I live here! Other than that this is a dull entry. The only mystery is why does the town (which is actually a city) spell it Attleborough but the state highway signs drop the ugh?
It is home to the mall where I met my husband, a murder related to the New England Patriots and way too many car dealerships.
Norton
Pronunciation: Nor-ton
Population in 2020: 19,202
Incorporated: 1711
Original name: unknown
Once known as North Taunton, this town is located in the Bridgewater Triangle.
It was named after Norton, England. Or, if you like, it was called Norton as a shortening of North Taunton.
Raynham
Pronunciation: Rain-um, Rain-ham
Population in 2020: 15,082
Incorporated: 1731
Original name: unknown
Apparently there is an actual dispute over how to say the name of this town. I have never heard anyone say Rain-ham, but that’s how they want you to say it.
At any rate, here is the reason for the name:
“According to White’s publication, many of Raynham’s earliest settlers came from Raynham in Norfolk County in England. It was also the seat of power of Viscount Charles Townshend, whom many of the settlers respected.” He was a Whig, which meant he was anti-Catholic and supported the right of non-Anglican Protestants (which the settlers of Raynham were) to worship. Townshend was also a proponent of farming turnips, so much so that he was called “Turnip Townshend,” though probably not to his face,
Would you call this man “Turnip?”
Rehoboth
Pronunciation: Ruh-ho-beth
Population in 2020: 12,502
Incorporated: 1645
Original name: unknown
Rehoboth is a Hebrew word, meaning “God’s provision of spaciousness, expansion and opportunity for His purposes.”
This is the first biblically-named town we’ve seen on our tour.
Seekonk
Pronunciation: See-konk
Population in 2020: 15,531
Incorporated: 1812
Original name: Seaconke, possibly Wampanoag for “black goose”
Seekonk was originally part of Rehoboth. It has a Honey Dew Donuts and a speedway and a majority of voters who did not want to fund a new library, not that I’m bitter or anything.
Somerset
Pronunciation: Summer-set
Population in 2020: 18,303
Incorporated: 1790
Original name: Shawomet, unknown
In 1790, Somerset was officially incorporated, the town had elected Jerathamel Bowers as the moderator for the first town meeting. He had asked that the town would be named Somerset in honor of his wife. His wife’s name was Mary Shelburne Powers, who was born in Somerset Square in Boston, Mass. (source)
I think if my husband were going to name a place in my honor that I would like it to be a little more personal than the square where I was born. And you’d think that someone with a name like Jerathamel would understand the power of names!
Swansea
Pronunciation: Swan-zee
Population in 2020: 17,144
Incorporated: 1667
Original name: unknown
John Miles, the founder of the first Baptist Church in Wales at Ilston, in 1649, established a number of Baptist chapels across South Wales during the 1650s. However, the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy in England was followed by religious intolerance and a severe regime brought Baptist progress to an abrupt end. By the time of the Conventicle Act of 1664 the Ilston chapel was abandoned and its congregation forced underground. In 1662-3, John Miles traveled to America to end his days in a town that he later named Swansey in Massachusetts, now known as Swansea! (source)
Taunton
Pronunciation: Tawnt-un
Population in 2020: 59,408
Incorporated: 1639 (town), 1864 (city)
Original Name: Cohannet, Tetiquet, or Titiquet “all used by the resident Wampanoag Tribe to describe the river and its valley.”
The settlers were from Taunton, England, natch. Here’s a good overview.
Westport
Pronunciation: precisely like you think it is
Population in 2020: 16,339
Incorporated: 1787
Original Name: Westport
Pronunciation: precisely like you think it is
Population in 2020: 16,339
Incorporated: 1787
Original Name: Coaksett (Acoaxet) “the land on the other side of the little land”
“Westport, so named because it was the westernmost port in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was first settled in 1670 as a part of the town of Dartmouth by members of the Sisson family.”
That was fun. I think. At any rate, Essex is next!
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